RWK23

Anyone think that it's a coincidence that as soon as Flip gets second line minutes with PP time, he averages a point a game? I don't.

It's all good. In Kenny I trust. If anyone can get it done, it's that man.

I hate reading stuff like this, because it ALWAYS gets my hopes up and I told myself that I wasn't going to get my hopes up. Bah.

I'm a heterosexual male with an awesome girlfriend and I have man crushes on Hank, Pavs, and Nick. If you want to consider retired players, I have a man crush on Stevie. In the future, I could see myself developing a man crush on Darren Helm or Justin Abdelkader. If you want to cross sports, I also have man crushes on Curtis Granderson, Rodney Stuckey, and Calvin Johnson. It's perfectly natural and healthy.

Absolute complete and utter bulls***.

Son of a *****. Come on, Osgood, what is wrong with you?

I love reading lips. Franzen: "f*** off."

We wouldn't have given up these goals if there were an enforcer on the roster. Oh, right.

Bah. s***ty PK again.

Here's to Turco and Ott getting wrecked!

Don't most of the guys with high fight numbers in the league play limited minutes? I don't see how this would be an issue. Ott being a ****** might though.

That poster is stupid. The contract is null if you retire. ....right? haha, I should probably check before I call him stupid.

*praying for a Downey beatdown on Ott*

In a nut shell, yes, that's how it works.

That'll help the old save percentage, huh? Wow.

Yep, if you're asking about their primes, I'd definately have to go with Fedorov.

Maybe the Wings should have Aaron Downey go on vacation with Pasha just to be sure. Jody Shelley could be anywhere.

I don't like the idea at all.

Alright, we're half way through the season now. Let's hear your picks for the major awards if the season were to end today. If you like, post who think will ultimately win the award too. Here's mine: Hart - Marc Savard, Bruins Vezina - Tim Thomas, Bruins Norris - Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings Calder - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Selke - Patrick Marleau, Sharks Jack Adams - Claude Julien, Bruins And the obvious ones: Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Rocket Richard - Thomas Vanek, Sabres; Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals; Jeff Carter, Flyers Jennings - Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez, Bruins I think it's a tight race for pretty much every award this year. The Vezina and Norris were especially hard though. No goalie is having a runaway year and I picked Thomas, but his teammate could make a case as well. I think Luongo was making the best case for it until his injury. The Norris was tough as well. After a period of adjustment, Lidstrom has gone back to being the best player in the league and is among the top 10 in defenseman points and +/-. Bruins defensemen Chara and Wideman could easily make cases as well along with guys like Duncan Keith and Shea Weber. I'm going to show my homerism a little bit and give it to Lidstrom at the half way point. So, let's hear it.

Colombus should be calling. They've been looking for Rick Nash's center for six years now. Without looking, I think they have the cap room to pull it off too.

In his prime, he really wasn't. He was always putting his team in position to win. Towards the end of his career as his athleticism started to wane, he was very inconsistent.

I agree, but Nick really was terrific. He was averaging something close to 30 minutes a game. But, if it weren't for Stevie, we might have lost in the first round. He carried them on his back against the 'Nucks.

lol, you didn't really take a step down there. In fact, you may have gone up one notch.

I think the whole North American/European debate is dumb. If twenty-one Japanese players can come in here, play well, and deliver a Cup or two, sign them up. I do agree with #1 Fan in that it is best when we have a solid balance of North Americans and Europeans, but meh. It's no big deal. What really annoys me is the whole "Europeans can't be gritty" bias. Case in point, Niklas Kronwall in 2008 playoffs. Though, if you really need a North American fix, wait a year or two. You'll be subject to two hard working, young, and exciting North Americans in Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader.

Those were just my picks up to this point. If I had to pick who I thought it'd be at the end of the season, it would look something like this: Hart - Alex Ovechkin, Capitals Vezina - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Norris - Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings Calder - Steve Mason, Blue Jackets Lady Byng - Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings Selke - Ryan Kesler, Canucks Jack Adams - Claude Julien, Bruins Art Ross - Evgeni Malkin, Penguins Rocket Richard - Alex Ovechkin, Captials Jennings - Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez, Bruins Bud Light +/- Award - Marc Savard, Bruins Presidents Trophy - Boston Bruins I'm still not sold on the Vezina. There really are no great candidates. Mason is having the best season, but he's due to come back to earth, right? Not to mention, the lack of games. Backstrom has been very good, but Vezina quality? And as eva pointed out, it's tough for a goalie in a tandem to win it. Luongo and Brodeur's injuries kind of threw a wrench into the Vezina race.